July Update

Wow it has been a while since I've written anything!

Being inbetween two places is a difficult affair.  True, my "inbetween" place since I got married was London, which as far as places go, is pretty damn fabulous.  But it was still inbetween.  I couldn't really settle in, permanently unpack, or claim my territory.  We had 3 housemates, so I couldn't walk around our house naked and dance to Lady Gaga.  Not that this is something I need to do...(or have done...ahem!), but you know, when a home is home you can do whatever you want.  I arrived in London on April 18th, and I left London for Luzern on June 18th.  Two months to the day.  I enjoyed my time in London very much, but I was ready to move on to Switzerland when the time came.

The great part about my time in London is that not only was I able to see the sights a bit, but more importantly I had the chance to connect to Hodge in a new way.  I was on his turf for the first time.  I met his friends and family, and through that was able to come to understand him and where he comes from more deeply.  It meant a lot to me.

Plus, I have ridiculously cute nieces that I spent some time getting to know!  See below.

Hodge and I also went to a very special Opera House, Glyndebourne, located about one hour outside of London out in the countryside.  People brought picnics, champagne, and yes...candelabras!  Very English, and very fun.  

In any case, having established that I enjoyed my time in London, now let's get to all the news about my move to Switzerland!

I received my residence permit a little over a week ago.  The immigration people in Luzern were very kind to me.  Unlike in the US, immigration law in Switzerland is administered by each canton, (not federally), so everything is basically done locally.  I have the right to work now, but I haven't had any luck finding a job yet.  To be completely honest, I haven't tried that hard.  I am pushing myself to study German every day for the next month or two, just so that I can get around a little bit easier here and maybe make some friends.  Although many people do speak English, I truly believe that knowing German is key.  Speaking someone's native language with them creates a personal connection that simply does not otherwise exist.  I study about 4 hours every day.  I can understand things here and there, and after two weeks in the language school lab I can read signs...sometimes.  I can point, count, and recite my colors.  I basically speak German like a two-year old.  My grammar is still screwed up, and my vocabulary very limited, but I can usually get my point across.

My goal is to in the next few months lose my very special "deer-in-the-headlights" look when someone comes up to me and speaks German.  When this happens to me, my brain tries to find a single word to hang on to...just to get an idea of what is being said.  Sometimes I hear a word I know...sometimes not.  Might as well be Chinese.  I do anything to avoid it.  I have google translated things when I can anticipate a situation...but that has its own downside.  If I show up somewhere and ask a question correctly, the problem then becomes that I have NO CLUE what the person is saying back to me.  And then I've dug myself into a deeper "deer-in-the-headlights" embarrassing hole.  Now I just politely ask in German if we can speak English, and that is usually fine.  Although every day I get a little bit more brave about trying things in German.  In a sense, learning a new language is like slowly having a beautiful and intricate painting revealed to you...color by color and layer by layer.  It takes time and patience, and maybe most importantly it takes the courage to sound silly.  

I have many moments each day when I look outside and am startled by how beautiful Luzern is.  My quality of life has truly gone through the roof since I arrived here.  I enjoy each part of my day.  I cycle to my language school, I cycle to the store, and I cycle home.  I walk to the lake and swim.  (see below)

I will say though, living in Switzerland does sometimes present challenges.  A few things happen here that will basically make any American go "What the fuck is this shit?!!"

Examples:

1.  In our building we are not allowed to vacuum on Sundays.  ( I don't know about you...but this was basically the ONLY time I would actually get around to vacuuming in the US...have to reset my clock a bit...)

2.  In our building we are not allowed to do laundry on Sundays.  (Again, this was a normal Sunday activity for me in the US...)

3. In our building there are washing machines that speak German and once locked my clothes in them when I was unable to follow their instructions.  WTF.

4.  A Burger King Whopper meal costs $13.  Oh, and you have to pay for ketchup. !

5.  A 6-pack of Corona costs nearly $20.

6.  You can buy a pregnancy test in public vending machines.  And condoms.  And "cannabis iced tea."

7.  You can only put trash out for collection once a week, and it has to be in special blue bags.  You can't just walk outside and throw shit out into a dumpster...you kind of have to plan this carefully.

8.  You can't really buy groceries after 6:30pm.

While I of course miss my friends and family in the US, I haven't struggled with homesickness too badly.  I have had two small bouts of it so far, and each time the trigger has been something rather bizarre.

The first time I got really sad about missing the US was when I saw a cat walk across our fence in London.  For whatever reason, it got me thinking about my two kitties who now live with my mom and I started crying.  So maybe this wasn't even really homesickness, it was more specifically catsickness.  I raised these cats since they were two months old and barely knew how to lick themselves, and I miss them terribly.

The second time, Hodge and I were at a music festival here in Switzerland with some friends.  As we sat listening to American jazz music in this tiny Swiss town, I felt pangs of homesickness.  Hodge, being the sensitive and intuitive sweetheart he is, immediately sensed this change in me.  I swear I didn't even have to say a word.  He just looked at me and knew.  He suggested we take a walk.  At first I didn't say much.  I kept thinking I had no right to feel sad.  No right to miss home.  It somehow felt unnappreciative to miss Arizona and Colorado when I was in such a beautiful place.  I'm not sure what cracked me, but suddenly I was being hugged tightly, crying on Hodge's shoulder.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, sensitive, and supportive friend as my husband.

Music Festival in Sempach

Today, July 9th, was an especially difficult day, and it had nothing to do with being in Switzerland.  Nine years ago today, both my father and maternal grandmother died.  It was a horrible day, and every year on July 9th I feel pangs of that raw, overwhelming grief that gripped me back in 2003.  I flashback to the bitter and cold reality of being woken up by my mother at 5:30am to be told that brain cancer had taken my father after an almost two year battle.  I flashback to the phonecall that came only 4 hours later from my uncle saying that he was so sorry to hear about my father, and then that horrible pause...and the shocking words that followed telling me my grandmother Cynthia, who had been like a second mother to me, had passed on that morning as well.  I was numb, but I remember knowing deep down that the grief I felt that day would never truly go away.  And it hasn't.  I think that the grief we feel for the people we've lost goes on and on.  A sad song that continues forever.  On most days it fades into the background, barely audible with the loud and cheerful tones of everyday life.  But if you stop and listen, it's always there somehow.  And today I feel as if I've been listening to it all day.

But tomorrow will be better.  And in any case, my father and my grandmother wouldn't want me to sit around being sad.  I'm doing my best to joyfully remember.